io9: cthulu

Anything Called "Blasphemous Horrors" Belongs on My Wall for Sure

Nivair H. Gabriel — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:00:00 PDT

In May of this year, historically transgressive SF monthly Weird Tales launched a year-long tribute to one of its greatest writers, cosmic horror scribe Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Lovecraft's work fills a lengthy bibliography, and now it can fill the walls of your (no doubt sci-fi-themed) living room as well. Inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos — the Lovecraftian universe of tales that focuses on the extraterrestrial deities who inhabit our world — artist Steven Archer is creating one painting a day for sale at the Weird Tales blog. So far he's had plenty of eerie, supernaturally lovely hits, and there are 235 days to go in the series Weird Tales is calling "Blasphemous Horrors."

My favorite of his creations is the above-pictured "Growth and Remission," but Archer (with Lovecraft up his sleeve) has so much more to showcase. Check out the thrilling images below, and then head over to WeirdTalesMagazine.com to see the rest. This is the sci-fi art gift that'll keep on giving 'till May 2009.

Cthulhu Monster Keeps Main Character Waiting

Meredith Woerner — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:00:00 PDT

This new Cthulhu movie poster keeps main character Professor Russ waiting for both the doomsday cult and the titular creature from the deep. Cthulhu is set in in Russ' hometown, a quaint little fishing village. When he returns to his old stomping grounds, Russ gets sexed up by old lovers, finds his father is the leader of a doomsday cult, and uncovers a plot to end the world. No pics of the monster yet, though Cthulu actress Tori Spelling should tied your fish-face needs for now. Click through for the entire poster, plus the trailer.

90210 Meets Cthulhu

Kevin Kelly — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:30:49 PST

Here's photographic and video evidence of what must surely be one of the signs of the approaching apocalypse: Tori Spelling in a Cthulhu movie. Make sure that sinks into your cranium before proceeding further. Yes, the very same Tori Spelling of Beverly Hills 90210 and the Tori & Dean Inn Love reality show strips down and gets her groove on in a wannabe horror film entitled Cthulhu: The Movie, where you never see any monsters. Unless you want to use the term "monster" metaphorically. Which we do.

We're well aware of the fact that it's difficult to try to tackle Lovecraft from any angle, but why would you try to make things harder for yourself by sticking Tori Spelling in your movie? If this was a retelling of Lovecraft starring bitchy girls who can't find the proper shade of lip gloss at the local L'oreal counter who then get eaten by some sort of lurking horror, then we'd get it. However, it sure looks like they're trying to be serious in this trailer, which for the life of us we can't really wrap our heads around. Especially once Donna Martin appears.

"Someone get down to the Peach Pit, quick! We've opened a portal to R'lyeh!" Yikes. Someone must have dialed in a favor or had some serious blackmail material for this one. We still prefer the Donna-free Cthulhu movie, which manages to be engaging despite being silent and in black and white.

Cthulhu the Movie [official site]

Gulliermo del Toro, Report To Cthulhu

Kevin Kelly — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:15:50 PST

Guillermo del Toro is bringing H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness to the big screen in 2010, although it sounds like he'll be juggling duties on that film while trying to make two simultaneous The Hobbit feature films. After working with a vampire, a fairy tale, a red-skinned demon, and a hobbit, he'll be bringing us shoggoths, and it's about damn time. He also wants to stay true to the original source material which he describes as "a National Geographic special on a crew that disappeared in an exploration mission."

Lovecraft's novella was first collected in serialized form in Astounding Stories, after being rejected by Weird Tales, in the 1930s. If you've tried reading it recently, you'll find that it's filled with some pretty amazing descriptions of things like "ululating horrors" (the shoggoths, who are basically monster slave labor)) and the massive city abandoned by the Elder Things. However, it also is drier than a thousand year old Saltine cracker.

del Toro wants to film that version of the story, even though "iit's a compilation of really dry scientific annotations that happen to be annotating something really scary. There is no character or dramatic thread." So you know, kind of like Cloverfield, except with monsters that will make you crap your pants. Given his track record, we're pretty sure he'd do a spectacular job with this and keep it from devolving into Aliens Vs. Predator. Remember those giant monsters through the portal the Nazis opened up in Hellboy? Yeah, those made us crap our pants too.

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/01/29/del-toro-to-incite-audiences-to-madness-with-hp-lovecraft-project/">Del Toro To Incite Audiences To 'Madness' With H.P. Lovecraft Project [MTV Movies Blog]